STUDIES ON THE FAUNA OF CURAÇAO AND OTHER
CARIBBEAN ISLANDS: No. 183
Therediscoveryof the freshwater
shrimp Macrobrachium crenulatum
in Jamaica
by
Waine Hunte
(Zoology Dept., University of the West Indies,
Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica)
A record of the freshwater shrimps of Jamaica has been provided
by Hart (1961b). His study includes taxonomical comments and
the which the notes on locations at various species were caught.
Since then Holthuis (1963a) has described a new subterranean
freshwater shrimp, Troglocubanus jamaicensis, still known only
from its typelocality near Goshen, Jamaica, and Chace & Hobbs
(1969) have listed all the freshwater shrimps recorded in Jamaica
that time. Hunte up to Subsequently, (1975) reported the presence of Atya lanipes Holthuis in Jamaica for the first time.
Macrobrachium crenulatum Holthuis (1950a) has not been re-
ported from Jamaica since 1910, and both Hart (1961b) and
it in Choudhury (1971a) considered no longer extant the island.
Extensive collecting during the present study has produced a single
male of this with specimen species post-orbital carapace length
12.9 The of the is the faunal mm. purpose present paper to update record of Jamaican freshwater shrimps by confirming the disputed
of M. crenulatum in the There therefore four- presence island. are
in teen species of freshwater shrimps now considered extant Jamai-
ca, and these are listed in the following Table. Hunte (in press) has
discussed the ecological factors affecting the distribution of the more
common of these shrimps throughout Jamaica.
I would like to thank Mr. R. MAHON of the Zoology Department, University of
the Guelph, for assistance in field. The financial support of a postgraduate scholar- ship from the University of the West Indies is gratefully acknowledged. 70
LIST OF THE JAMAICAN FRESHWATER SHRIMPS
Name Type Locality
Family ATYIDAE
Atya innocous (Hcrbst), 1972 Martinique
Atya lanipes Holthuis, 1963a St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
Atya scabra (Leach), 1815 Mexico
Jonga serrei (Bouvier), 1909 Havana, Cuba
Micratya poeyi (Guerin-Meneville),
1855 Cuba
Potimirim americana (Guerin-Mene-
ville), 1855 Cuba
Potimirim mexicana (De Saussure),
1857c Veracruz, Mexico
Xiphocaris elongata (Guerin-Meneville)
1855 Havana, Cuba
Family PALAEMONIDAE
Macrobrachium acanthurus
(Wiegmann), 1836 Coast of Brasil
Macrobrachium carcinus (Linnaeus),
1758 Jamaica
Macrobrachium crenulatum
Holthuis, 1950a Rio Peje Bobo, Panama
Macrobrachium faustinum
(De Saussure), 1857c Near Jacmel, Haiti
Macrobrachium heterochirus
(Wiegmann), 1836 East coast of Mexico
Troglocubanus jamaicensis
Holthuis, 1963a Near Goshen, Jamaica 71
SYNONYMY
Palaemonolfersii, SHARP, 1893 (part), p. 123.
Bithynis olfersii, RATHBUN, 1901 (part), p. 124.
Macrobrachium 315. olfersii, SCHMITT, 1933a (part), p.
Macrobrachium crenulatum 95. HOLTHUIS, 1950a, p.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
Macrobrachium crenulatum has been recorded in Panama, Vene-
and number the zuela, a of West Indian islands (Jamaica, Hispa-
niola, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Grenada,
Trinidad).
HABITAT
The present specimen was collected at an altitude of about 50 ft
in a tributary of the Black River in the parish of St. Elizabeth,
the the Jamaica The water in tributary was clear and fresh, and
substratum of mud and was composed decaying vegetation. Current
speed was extremely low. M. crenulatum had previously been caught
in low altitude site in in Jamaica at a a slow-moving stream the
parish of St. James (see HART, 1961b).
The species is apparently much more common in Puerto Rico
island it in than in Jamaica, and in the former occurs primarily
quiet pools at altitudes below 1300 ft (CHASE & HOBBS, 1969).
COLOUR IN LIFE
The dark red and had red-black carapace was predominantly a
the half. The of the area dorsolaterally in anterior terga first, sec- ond, third and fourth abdominalsomites were red-black; those of the
The fifth and sixth were of a lighter red tinged with blue. third,
fifth and sixth somites each had in their fourth, a yellow area pos-
terior half; that of the third being the largest. The telson was bright 72
red with red-black and black spots surrounding the bases of the
spines. The uropods were pale red with darker red and yellow pat-
ches. The antennal and antennular peduncles were dark red, the
tan. The of the the flagella were coxa pereiopods were grey; more distal podomeres usually pale red. The chela of the first pereiopod
was cream-tan with a blue-black stripe; that of the second pereio-
black with white The pod was tips. pleopods were pale red.
MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF TAXONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE
The carapace was without a branchiostegal spine; but antennal
The and hepatic spines were present. rostrum (Fig. 58a) possessed
Figure 58. Macrobrachium crenulatum Holthuis. Morphological features of taxonom-
ic significance. — A. Rostrum. — B. Major second pereiopod. 73
thirteen dorsal teeth and five ventral teeth, the most anterior of
which small. The four dorsal behind was very posterior teeth were
size the orbital margin. The second pereiopods were unequal in and
form and had thick pubesence on the palms and opposing margins
of The of fingers. carpus the major second pereiopod (Fig. 58b) was
shorter than the and the about palm or merus, fingers were the same
length as the palm. The palm was compressed and was not quite
twice as long as wide. The spines along the mesial margin of the palm
decrease in size did not near the middle portion of the palm but
became base suddenly smaller near the of the fixed finger.
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